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Talk given at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society (Harvard) on Dec. 16th about Global Voices/Project Lingua and translation.
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What Project Lingua can tell usabout the future of news
Chris Salzberg
Global Voices / The University of Tokyo
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Outline of Presentation
1. Background• Media attention, bridgeblogging, Global Voices
2. Translation in Global Voices• Languages in GV, Project Lingua, collaborations
3. Discussion• Challenges: lost context, sense of community• Shifting research context
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1. Background
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How do we get our daily news about the worldbeyond borders of nation, culture and language?
Media
Broadcast media Telecommunications media
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Global Media Attention
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Attention Bias● Traditional news media have constraints:
● Physical constraints (size of printed page, length of radio broadcast or television program, etc.)
● Personnel constraints (limited number of news gatherers, reporters, gatekeepers)
● Attention of major media strongly biased:● Most accurate indicator of media attention is GDP● Economy more important than language, culture
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From Global to Local
”The Changing Newroom: What is Being Gained and What is Being Lost inAmerica's Daily Newspapers?” Project for Excellence in Journalism (2008)
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What happened to “Global News”?
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Blogs as Media● Bridgeblogging
● Blogs “that reach across gaps of language, culture and nationality” to enable communication
● Community is small, but may be essential in connecting separate parts of the global blogosphere
● Use of blogs by journalists● 47% of correspondents in China read blogs daily
for story ideas (but only 16% read Chinese blogs)
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Global Voices Online
● Citizen media project founded at Harvard University's Berkman Center in late 2004/2005
● International group of bridgebloggers, original focus on regions with low media attention
● Aggregate/introduce conversations in cit. media
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The World is Talking
Blog conversations as primary source material:● Articles introduce conversations through
aggregation, contextualization, translation
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Focus on Listening● Objectives
● Convey conversations in citizen media● Maintain close relationship with blogging communities
● Not a traditional “news site”:● Complementary relationship with mainstream media● Articles often used as source (NYT, BBC, CNN)
● New model for communitybased journalism
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...in many languagesEngl i shChi neseSpani shJapaneseFr enchGer manAr abi cPor t ugueseKor eanI t al i anOt her
Language of Internet Users (Internet World Stats, 2008)
Blog posts by language (Technorati, 2007)
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2. Translation in Global Voices
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Bridgeblogging and Translation
● Bridgeblogging often involves translation:● Some bridgebloggers translate content (e.g. ESWN)● Many bridgebloggers “translate” between languages
in a broader sense (as in news translation)
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GV Translation into English
Blogs on topic X inChinese Blogosphere
Article in Engl ish
Contextualization
Translation
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And into 15 other languages
● Project Lingua ● Cluster of 15 language teams, formed in 2006/2007● Translate Englishlanguage Global Voices articles
into other languages● One of the largest and most active translation
communities in the world
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Translation Flow
Global Voices articleBlog entry
GV en EspañolGV en françaisGV in ItalianoGV amin´ny teny malagasyGV em PortuguêsGV në ShqipGV на македонски
GV بالعربية
GV োোোবোল ভেেেেে অনলোইন: বোংলো ভোেসন
GV 全球之声 / 全球之聲
GV 日本語
Regional BlogosphereLingosphere
Global Voices in English Project Lingua
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Map of Lingua translators
(Map courtesy GV French editor Claire Ulrich)
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A shifting focus
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Active teams (October 2008)
Number of posts Number of contributors
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Largest translation teams
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Regional Focus of Lingua Teams
● Distribution of regional coverage by Lingua teams varies by language
● Language and region linked, in some cases strongly so
● Some languages cover multiple countries/regions: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Swahili
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GV Spanish
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GV French
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GV Malagasy
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Partnerships and Collaborations
GV Arabic+
Al Jazeera Talk
GV Chinese+
China Times
GV French+
Rue89
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3. Discussion
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Communication and Coordination● Main methods of communication in Lingua:
● Mailing list + editor review (most common): Translators announce article to translate, one or more editors proofread translations
● Wiki + peer review (GV Chinese team): articles proofread by other team member, sent back for confirmation, then published
● Direct publication: minimal communication, experienced translators can publish directly
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Challenges (1): Lost Context● Major challenge of lost context:
● Assumptions of background knowledge not appropriate for nonEnglishspeaking audiences
● Links to Englishlanguage references are not accessible in translated article (sometimes replaced)
● Choice of subjects assumes English audience, not always suitable for readers of a different language
● Presentation may evoke unintended response
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Examples of Lost Context● Article about Mauritia (Andriamanajara, 2007)
● Mentions genital excision, a foreign concept to Malagasy audiences
● When translating to Malagasy, translator had to consult other people for advice
● Final compromise: “circumcision for young girls”● Through translation, translator introduced a new
concept to a language community (Malagasy)
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Challenges (2): Sense of Community
A B C D E
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
To which online community do you feel the closest attachment?
(Online survey conducted in January 2008)
A: All bloggers across the world (2)
B: Bloggers in your language or region (8)
C: Global Voices (7)
D: Lingua (0)
E: Lingua community for your language (5)
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Bloggers and Translators● Bloggers
● Connected to local blogosphere / lingosphere● Wellversed in blogging software, web services● Speak language of “web 2.0”, conversationoriented
● Translators● Typically work as individuals, professionoriented● Lack of knowledge about blogging technology, need
for training
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Context of Global Voices/Lingua
Journal ism StudiesResearch on Internet and Society
Translation Studies
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Languages and Global Voices● History of Global Voices:
● Began as a regionoriented, not languageoriented● Translation embedded in organization at an implicit
level (no mention in manifesto, etc.)● English bridgebloggers, translation not essential
● This approach was not sufficient:● Began hiring translators to cover “lingospheres”● Growth of Project Lingua, region/language overlap
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From Region to Language
● “In the next century, [...] the definition of proximity [will change] from geographic to linguistic: two countries [will] border one another if and only if they have a language they can use in common.” (Shirky, 1999)
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Shift of Context
Translation Studies
Journalism StudiesResearch on Internet and Society
News TranslationTranslation in Global News (Bielsa and Bassnett, 2008)
Community TranslationFan translation (Díaz Cintas and Muñoz Sánchez, 2006)
Examples in (Baker, 2006) and (Salzberg, 2008)
Participatory Media / Cit izen Media / Cit izen Journal ismMany references, e.g. MacKinnon (2007, 2007a), Zuckerman (2003)
Project Lingua
Global Voices
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News Translation● Resent research has shown:
● Drastic reorganization in news translation (Hursti, 2001)
● News translators see themselves as “international journalists”, not translators (Bielsa and Bassnett, 2008)
● Translation plays a critical role, but is invisible
Translation in Global News(Bielsa and Bassnett, 2008)
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Community Translation● Translation in communities of anime fans (Díaz
Cintas and Muñoz Sánchez, 2006):● Networks of fans collaborate to translate anime
subtitles (typesetters, translators, editors, encoders)● Frequent use of detailed translator notes● English as pivot language, translation into English
often conducted by nonnative speakers● Translators translate for a specific community of
anime fans (not a general news audience)
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Translation Communities● Cucumis
● Parisbased, no linguistic pivot● System of administrators, similar to Wikipedia
● Open translation● Translation of opensource software, documentation
● Spontaneous emergence of communities:● e.g. translation of Harry Potter into Chinese
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Translation and Globalization
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Translation and Participatory Media
Translation Studies
Participatory MediaStudies
Research on Internet and Society
Journalism Studies
News TranslationCommunity Translation
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4. Summary
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Main Points● Global Voices: bridgeblogging across nation,
culture, language● Lingua: translating GV into many languages● Challenges: lost context, sense of community● Bloggers and Translators● From region to language● References: news translation, fan translation
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Open Questions● Should a translation be considered “news”
because it is new to a linguistic community?● How many other translation communities are
there out there?● Opensource tools for translation communities?● Translation communities around nonEnglish
pivots?
